Preds name Evason as coach of Milwaukee Admirals

Preds name Evason as coach of Milwaukee AdmiralsThe Nashville Predators on Tuesday named former NHL center and Washington assistant Dean Evason as coach of their AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals.

The Nashville Predators on Tuesday named former NHL center and Washington assistant Dean Evason as coach of their AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals.

"Dean Evason brings the knowledge, insight and expertise of 20 years of NHL playing and coaching experience to the organization, and we are excited to have him guiding our young players and prospects as our development coach," Nashville general manager David Poile said in a statement. "Given his success working with a diverse group of players and coaches, and his ability to alter his style to their strengths, we feel our young players and prospects are in great hands."

Evason, 47, spent the last seven seasons as an assistant coach with the Capitals, who won four straight Southeast Division titles and the 2010 Presidents' Trophy during that time. Evason's responsibilities included faceoffs (the Caps finished among the NHL's Top 10 five times in his seven seasons) and the penalty kill (which finished as high as second in the League under his watch in 2010-11) while also being in charge of the team's forwards.

Before joining the Caps, Evason spent six seasons as a coach in the Western Hockey League with Kamloops and Vancouver. As a player, he had 139 goals and 372 points in 803 NHL games with Washington, Hartford, San Jose, Dallas and Calgary from 1983-96. During that time, he spent two seasons playing under then-Washington GM Poile (1983-85) and three seasons as a teammate of Predators assistant GM Paul Fenton in both the Hartford (1984-86) and San Jose (1991-92) organizations.